We propose to study the process of status attainment and the consequences of status position on a comparative basis, reanalyzing data drawn from sample surveys conducted in as many as 50 countries. Recent developments, including methodological work done by one of us (Treiman), have made it possible for the first time to measure status attributes in a precisely comparable way in different societies. This will allow us to generate (via the technique of path analysis) precisely comparable estimates for each society of the parameters of a model of status attainment which links father's education and occupation and son's education, occupation, and income in a complex causal scheme. Then, taking societies as the units of analysis, we will correlate these parameters with various macro-social characteristics in order to test a series of hypotheses about the determinants of societal variations in the process of status attainment. Second, we propose to study consequences for individuals of their location in the stratification system. In this way we hope to contribute to an understanding of the way in which variations in stratification systems affect the quality of life in different societies.